Wednesday, 27 February 2013

Five For Free #160

The Boxing Lesson - Eastside Possibilities

The whole of the music world is about to descent on Austin for the annual SXSW meat and tunes festival, but locals The Boxing Lesson won't have to travel far and will be showcasing tracks from their forthcoming new album 'Big Hits' at the event. If you want to check them out beforehand then they've made the punky indie of 'Eastside Possibilities' available for free.

This contemplative and introspective track was the debut single for Lovelier Other, a band who are keeping tight lipped about just about everything. We know not where they're from or who they are, but in 'Leave This Behind' they have a quite gorgeous and thoughtful track and that's really all that counts. If you want more then a second single, 'Hidden Shelters', is also available.

It was always going to be odd when the worlds of disco and funk collided with the worlds of sci-fi and psychedelia, and to be honest we didn't think it would be brought to us by a Hungarian band. But here it is, the new single from Zagar, it's called 'Space Medusa' and we won't bore you with details because you're either going to love it or hate it, so here it is.

You could say that Black Black Hills are another example of British bands being influenced by the past decade's dominance of US alt-rock over the critical eyes of the music press. So yes you can mention The National, Arcade Fire and many many more, but this doesn't take away from the fact that the Brighton group have a great tune in 'Far From My Arms'.

The End Of America are based in New York and they deal in more conventional Americana, the stuff made with a bit of a groove, some decent harmonies and acoustic instruments. Their album 'Shakey' is available now and they're giving away a free download of the track 'Grew Up Here' before they head off on the road and, naturally, to SXSW.